Oceania Marshall Islands The fish aggregation devices FADs that fishing boats use to make catches easier, lately equipped with satellite communications gear to pinpoint location, are now being built by drug cartels that wrap packs of cocaine and radio transponders to trace troves
Africa Ghana The work of Parliament was suspended 'indefinitely' following chaotic scenes and arguments in the Lower House chamber over which party holds the parliamentary majority
Asia Singapore In July-September 2024 there was a 52% increase in the number of people using vapes according to statistics from the Ministry of Health and the Health Sciences Authority
Europe Italy In its latest report, ECRI, a Council of Europe body specialised in monitoring discrimination, denounced racial profiling practices by police forces; Roma communities and African people would be subjected to disproportionate and discriminatory controls
Africa Nigeria The floods that occurred in 2024 caused the loss of some 855.629 tonnes of food, the latest FAO estimates reveal; at the end of September, the data showed almost 2,5 million hectares of farmland directly affected by the weather phenomenon
Europe Kosovo A new report by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights concludes that inherited memories of a war young people haven't lived have a significant impact on their attitudes, reinforcing distorted narratives and ethnic divisions
Europe Belgium All flights scheduled to leave Charleroi airport yesterday were cancelled due to a strike by security staff; this is the third time in less than two months that there have been major flight cancellations at Charleroi airport due to a strike
Africa Mali Several thousand Malian Tuaregs, including women and children, refugees across the border in Algeria, were expelled after an ultimatum from the Algerian authorities who reportedly suspected various trafficking, in particular that of arms
Africa Chad The opposition party The Transformers, led by former prime minister Succes Masra, will boycott the legislative elections on 29 December, deploring the maintenance of an electoral timetable that is impossible to meet due to heavy flooding
Africa Tunisia President Kais Saied was sworn in for a second term after being re-elected with 90,7% of the vote, calling in his inauguration speech for a 'cultural revolution' to combat unemployment, terrorism and corruption
Africa Cameroon The country aims to increase its rice production from 140.710 tonnes to 460.000 tonnes by 2027, part of the country's Medium-Term Economic and Budgetary Framework 2025-2027, prepared by the Ministry of Finance
Europe Poland The Russian consulate in Poznań, one of three in the country, has been closed upon order of Foreign Minister in retaliation for the acts and attempts of sabotage of the last months, possibly in connection with the passage of Western weapons for Ukraine
Europe Spain The Camino de Santiago has enjoyed resounding popularity in the last three decades, doubling from 99.000 pilgrims in 1993 to 215.000 in 2013 and again to 446.000 in 2023, while the religious motivation for the pilgrimage is becoming increasingly secondary
Asia South Korea South Korea demanded the immediate pullout of North Korean troops allegedly deployed in Russia as it summoned the Russian ambassador to protest deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow